1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a site-assembled shelf for displaying merchandise, more particularly to such a site-assembled shelf which is assembled by fitting component square pipe members onto pipe joints and then rotating and fastening the square pipes, and still more particularly to such a site-assembled shelf configured so that the whole shelf can be folded by horizontally rotating anchor pins of the pipe joints.
2. Prior Art Statement
Some of the various types of prior art merchandise display shelves are designed to be foldable so as to facilitate transport and storage or to save space when the shelf is not needed. Merchandise display shelves and show cases generally have to be set up or changed within short periods on a day when the store or shop is closed. Because of this, knock-down shelves that can be easily assembled at the site are used in large numbers. Such shelves are easy to transport and can be conveniently assembled at the site. In addition, they can be set up in a configuration matched to the size and shape of the shop.
The prior art site-assembled shelves are, however, disdvantageous in that the assembly work is time consuming and requires the use of experienced workers. Moreover, when a prior art site-assembled shelf becomes unnecessary owing to changes in the shop layout, a method has to be found for storing it and an appropriate amount of storage space must be secured.
Although the amount of time and labor required at the site can be reduced by delivering preassembled shelves, assembled shelves are troublesome to transport and handle. In addition, they take up a large amount of space and lower the utilization efficiency of the truck or the like used to haul them. Although a shelf configured to be foldable has been developed to overcome this problem, the conventional folding shelf can only be assemble in a standard size and shape. The impossiblity of modifying the shelf configuration means that special shelves have to be ordered in light of the shape and height restrictions imposed by the shop where the installation is to be made. In addition, while knock-in type site-assembled shelves are available, not only do they fail to provide relief from the troublesome assembly work, they also create another problem: the knocked together components cannot be reused owing to deformation occuring during knock-in. Moreover, the complex movements they permit make it necessary to use numerous types of pipe joints, which detracts from the working efficiency.
Site-assembled merchandise display shelves that are made of pipe members come in two types. In one type the pipe members are assembled by using a hammer or the like to pound them onto tapered anchor pin members with an outside diameter approximately equal to the inside diameter of the pipe members. The other type, which is designed for simple assembly, uses square pipe members and the anchor pins of the pipe joints are fit into the square pipe members as offset by 45.degree., whereafter a tool is used to rotate the pipe members by 45.degree. so as to bring the coupling surfaces of the two members against each other.